Tag Archives: USDA

Sonny Perdue, USDA

Trump Names Sonny Perdue to Head USDA

By Food Safety Tech Staff
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Sonny Perdue, USDA

This morning President-elect Donald Trump named Sonny Perdue, former governor of Georgia, to lead the USDA. The new agriculture secretary grew up on a farm in Georgia, has a doctorate in veterinary medicine, and owns the firm Perdue Partners, LLC, a global trading firm specializing in exporting U.S. goods.

His farming experience will be seen as a plus by many folks in the agriculture industry. However, the selection of Perdue also means there will be no Latinos in Trump’s Cabinet (this hasn’t happened since the Reagan administration).

Key issues in the agriculture sector that Trump’s administration will need to address include the 2018 farm bill, immigrant labor, the decline of farm income, and the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

FSMA

FDA Updates on FSMA Training

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Today FDA updated its FSMA training strategy to reflect the progress made during 2016. The program, which targets farmers, small food processors and small produce merchant wholesalers, includes the following updates:

  • Cooperative agreement for small and mid-size businesses involved in local food production awarded to the National Farmers Union Foundation
  • Cooperative agreement for preparing food producers in Native American tribes awarded to the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville
  • Federal grants awarded for establishing regional centers to facilitate training under FDA’s partnership with USA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Eggs

FSIS Will Start Testing All Pasteurized Egg Products for Listeria

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Eggs

Beginning on September 21, FSIS will test all domestic and imported pasteurized egg products for Listeria monocytogenes (Lm). The agency currently tests these products for Lm if they have a shelf-life claim, but the new initiative will test all pasteurized egg products regardless of claims. FSIS is also getting rid of Lm analysis at the end of shelf-life on products with claims under the domestic egg products sampling program (EGGDOM); the agency will instead collect samples of dried, liquid and frozen pasteurized egg products and test them for both Salmonella and Lm.

Food Safety Tech is organizing a Listeria Detection & Control Workshop in Washington, DC, October 6-7. Virtual attendance is also offered for folks unable to travel.

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FSIS to Share Food Safety Data from Slaughter and Processing Facilities

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USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Services (FSIS) has announced a plan to share more information about food safety at domestic slaughter and processing facilities. The Establishment-Specific Data Release Strategic Plan will serve to help consumers make more informed food choices, encourage facilities to improve performance, and provide more insights into the strengths and weaknesses of practices at the facilities.

“FSIS’ food safety inspectors collect vast amounts of data at food producing facilities every day, which we analyze on an ongoing basis to detect emerging public health risks and create better policies to prevent foodborne illness,” said USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety Al Almanza in an agency release. “Consumers want more information about the foods they are purchasing, and sharing these details can give them better insight into food production and inspection, and help them make informed purchasing decisions.”

The datasets will be published quarterly on data.gov, beginning 90 days after they are published in the Federal Register. FSIS will provide information about processes used at each facility, along with facility codes to allow for the combination of future datasets by facility. The agency will also release results for Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella in ready-to-eat and processed egg products; Shiga Toxin-producing Escherichia coli and Salmonella in raw, non-intact beef products; Salmonella and Campylobacter in young chickens and turkeys, comminuted poultry and chicken parts; testing data of routine chemical residue in meat and poultry; and advanced meat recovery test data.

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USDA Touts Food Safety Progress Under Obama Administration

By Food Safety Tech Staff
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Between 2009 and 2015 there was a 12% reduction in foodborne illnesses associated with meat, poultry and processed egg products. “We’re better now at keeping unsafe food out of commerce, whether it’s made unsafe because of dangerous bacteria, or because of an allergen, like peanuts or wheat,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in a USDA release. “Over the course of [President Obama’s] Administration, we have tightened our regulatory requirements for the meat and poultry industry, enhanced consumer engagement around safe food handling practices, and made smart changes to our own operations, ultimately moving the needle on the number of foodborne illness cases attributed to products that we regulate.”

USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has implemented a number of initiatives since 2009, including:

  1. Establishing a zero-tolerance policy for raw beef products that contain shiga-toxin producing E. coli: O26, O103, O45, O111, O121 and O145.
  2. Labeling mechanically tenderized meat. The blades or needles used to tenderize meat an introduce pathogens into the meat.
  3. First-ever pathogen reduction standards for poultry parts in order to reduce consumer exposure to Salmonella and Campylobacter. The standard is expected to prevent 50,000 cases of foodborne illness each year.
  4. Requiring that all poultry facilities create a plan to prevent contamination with Salmonella and Campylobacter, instead of addressing the problem after it occurs. Poultry companies must collect samples at two points in the production line and test them to show control of enteric pathogens.
  5. Requiring meat and poultry companies to hold all products that are undergoing lab analysis until USDA microbial and chemical tests for harmful hazards are complete.
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Antimicrobial Resistance Research a $6 Million USDA Priority

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Today the USDA announced that is providing $6 million in funding for research surrounding antimicrobial resistance. Available via the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative and USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, funded applications must tackle one or more areas:

  • Development of new systems approaches to investigate the ecology of microbial resistance microbes and gene reservoirs in the environment in animals, crops, food products or farm-raised aquaculture products
  • Development, evaluation and implementation of effective and sustainable resources and strategies. This approach includes alternative practices, techniques, technologies or tools that mitigate emergence, spread or persistence of antimicrobial resistant pathogens
  • Identify critical control points for mitigating antimicrobial resistance in pre- and post-harvest food production
  • Design training, education, and outreach resources (including web-based) that are adaptable by users across the food chain (from policy makers to producers and processors to retailers and consumers)
  • Design and conduct studies that evaluate the impact and efficacy of proposed research, education and extension/outreach interventions on antimicrobial resistance across the food chain

Applications are due August 3.

Censorship, USDA

Amidst Censorship Concerns, Call for Reform at USDA

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Censorship, USDA

A group of industry stakeholders in sustainable agriculture, environmental, beekeeper and public interest groups are call for reform at the USDA. In a letter sent to Doug Banner, scientific integrity officer at USDA yesterday, the coalition of more than 50 organizations ask for reforms to the agency’s scientific integrity policy. “The agency must prohibit suppression and alteration of scientific findings, employ clear and enforceable procedures for conducting loss of scientific integrity investigations, assure transparency and consistency in the administration of policies, adopt strong protections for scientists who file misconduct complaints, and participate in misconduct investigations when scientists and their work face interference. These actions are needed to ensure that USDA scientists can properly do their jobs.”

A recent article in The Washington Post details the story of USDA Entomologist and whistleblower Jonathan Lundgren, who has attributed the rapid decline in honeybees to the overuse of pesticides and the lack of crop diversity. Lundgren filed a whistleblower suit last fall, claiming he was suspended to prevent his research on the harmful effects of pesticides on pollinators.

According to a news release from Friends of the Earth: “An internal scientific integrity review panel at the USDA recently rejected the complaint of scientific suppression by Lundgren, claiming that agency had not violated its scientific integrity policies. In February 2016, USDA Inspector General Phyllis Fong said the USDA will open a broad investigation into the issue of scientific censorship, but did not specify whether the investigation would be made publicly available.”

The USDA, which outlines its scientific integrity policy on its website, has not released a public statement addressing the coalition’s letter.

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USDA Poultry Standards Could Reduce Illnesses by 50,000 Annually

By Food Safety Tech Staff
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The USDA has finalized federal standards to lower the incidence of Salmonella and Campylobacter in ground chicken and poultry (including raw chicken breasts, legs and wings, which comprise about 80% of the chicken that American’s purchase). FSIS updated its microbial testing schedule at poultry facilities and will also start posting food safety performance about companies online.

“This approach to poultry inspection is based on science, supported by strong data, and will truly improve public health,” said USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety Al Almanza in an agency press release. “The new performance standards will complement the many other proactive, prevention-based food policies that we’ve put in place in recent years to make America’s supply of meat and poultry safer to eat.”

Intended to achieve at least a 30% reduction in Salmonella illnesses, a pathogen reduction performance standard for chicken parts, ground chicken and ground turkey is being finalized by FSIS. It is doing the same to achieve a 32% reduction in illnesses from Campylobacter in chicken parts and ground chicken. FSIS estimates a low prevalence of Campylobacter in ground turkey and is thus aiming for a 19% reduction.

“Over the past seven years, USDA has put in place tighter and more strategic food safety measures than ever before for meat and poultry products. We have made strides in modernizing every aspect of food safety inspection, from company record keeping, to labeling requirements, to the way we perform testing in our labs,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in the release. “These new standards, in combination with greater transparency about poultry companies’ food safety performance and better testing procedures, will help prevent tens of thousands of foodborne illnesses every year, reaching our Healthy People 2020 goals.”

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Pesticide Residues Not a Food Safety Risk, Says Federal Government

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After publishing data from its 2014 Pesticide Data Program (PDP) earlier this week, the USDA has stated that it is not concerned with the level of pesticide chemical residues in the U.S. food supply. More than 99% of products sampled through the USDA’s Pesticide Data Program had residues below EPA tolerances (residues exceeding the tolerance were detected in 0.36% of samples).

“The PDP plays an essential role in ensuring the safety of the U.S. food supply. Under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, the FDA has authority to take enforcement action when a food bears or contains unlawful pesticide chemical residues,” said Susan Mayne, Ph.D., director of FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition in a press release. “By providing an accurate assessment of pesticide levels in the most commonly consumed commodities in America, the PDP generally confirms the U.S. food supply is safe with respect to pesticide chemical residues.”

Among the foods tested were fresh and processed fruits and vegetables, oats, rice, and salmon. The findings from the PDP annual summary can be accessed via the USDA’s website.

USDA Issues Best Practices for Minimizing Salmonella and Campylobacter in Poultry

By Food Safety Tech Staff
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As part of a federal goal to achieve a 25% reduction in Salmonella illnesses related to meat and poultry products by 2020, USDA’s FSIS has revised and published guidelines for poultry processors. The document, “FSIS Compliance Guideline for Controlling Salmonella and Campylobacter in Raw Poultry”, intends to provide best practices based on scientific and practical considerations for minimizing pathogen levels and meeting FSIS food safety requirements.

The guidance recommends preventive measures that poultry companies can make in the following areas:

  • Pre-harvest (on the farm)
  • Sanitary dressing procedures
  • Further processing practices
  • Antimicrobial interventions
  • Management practices

FSIS is also seeking comment on the fourth edition of the updated document.

There has been little change in the number of confirmed Salmonella cases, which sicken more than 1 million people annually in the United States. The guidance is part of FSIS’ Salmonella Action Plan, which was announced in December 2013.